Ray is Tiny
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Instead of blowing himself up, Ray shrunk himself. Which means he’s alive, which is good. The bad news is that he’s being held captive in a plastic box by Damien Darhk who wants to use his suit and this shrinking technology for his own nefarious purposes.
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He talks with Felicity, the team organizes a rescue mission and, while it sounds easier than it actually ended up being, ultimately he is saved and re-biggened and all is well. Now he and Sara can go off to Legends of Tomorrow. Good work, team.
Mama Smoak Comes to Town
Any episode with Donna Smoak in it is already aces in my book. Charlotte Ross plays Felicity’s zany mother to perfection and this was no exception. Oliver (whom she’s become texting buddies with) called her about Felicity’s general lack of well-being. We learn a few key things during Mama’s latest visit:
- Neither Smoak woman can cook worth a damn
- Donna has some serious lounge-wear game
- Donna gives some pretty damn good relationship advice again
- And she and Quentin Lance have some pretty lovely chemistry together
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Yep, that’s right! At the end of the episode, we had Donna and Quentin crossing paths for the first time and it looks like they hit it off! Bring it on, I’m here for #SmoakNLance!
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Felicity Freaks Out
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We don’t often see Felicity lose her cool but we sure did tonight. She’s all in a tailspin over learning Ray is alive, has been alive this whole time and has been needing rescuing while she’s been off on a sex vacation with Oliver. She’s working around the clock, not bathing, not sleeping, eating terrible food… It’s no wonder Oliver called in the big guns (aka: Mama Smoak).
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We learn that she’s scared to death that she’s losing herself in Oliver, in her love for him. Their relationship is everything and she’s terrified of it ruling her life as she considers herself a strong, independant woman. It’s not hard to understand why this would worry her but the pep talk given to her by her mom helps her see things a little more clearly and to understand that her love for Oliver is a strength, not a weakness.
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The Return of Jealous!Oliver?
Felicity’s reaction to Ray being alive doesn’t just send her into a tailspin, it also does a number on Oliver too. Her uncertainty about the status of their relationship and her obsession with rescuing Ray makes him worry that he’s not enough for her. In an enormously touching scene where he and Dig share some whiskey, Oliver questions aloud why Felicity chose him. Luckily, Dig is there to talk sense into Oliver, explaining that love is more than just having certain things in common.
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And don’t think it escaped my notice that Dig compared Oliver and Felicity’s relationship to his and Lyla’s. That can only bode well for the future of Olicity.
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Olicity Reconnects
I’m not gonna lie, friends. It was rough for a few minutes there. Felicity was letting her insecurities get in the way of their relationship and Oliver was feeling left out in the cold. But, the good news is that the writers of Arrow care quite a bit for this relationship and take amazing strides to portray it realistically, organically and beautifully.
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We round out the episode with Oliver and Felicity having a much needed discussion back at their loft apartment. Felicity thanks Oliver for all he did to help save Ray and when they both admit to not really having very healthy examples of relationships in their childhoods, you can’t help but want to root for them. Instead of losing themselves in one another, Felicity suggests that they have found each other instead. God, that’s beautiful.
Oh, and the tongue kiss doesn’t hurt either.
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In an action packed show like Arrow, it’s nice to divert from the usual on occasion to focus on the characters. After all, it’s the characters who make us ultimately care about the action. It’s not to say that this episode didn’t have some amazing stunts and action sequences. It was glorious watching the entire team work together to save Ray. But the focus was 100% on developing Oliver and Felicity and their relationship and, in this episode, it worked very well.
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(because we need a gif of Oliver Queen shirtless in this recap)